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Can you help lead the AAPT by joining Council?

There are 6 places on Council up for election at the 22 September Annual General Meeting in Bristol.

Can you help lead the AAPT by joining Council?

There are 6 places on Council up for election at the 22 September Annual General Meeting in Bristol.

Council is bound by the aims and objectives of the AAPT and the Constitution.

It is the governing body for the AAPT and consists of four Executive members – the Chair, President, Vice-Chair and Treasurer – and up to eight ordinary Council members. Council also has the ability to co-opt members as and when necessary, and invites regional leads to ensure appropriate two-way communication at a local and national level.

It is responsible for setting the strategic direction for the AAPT and all Council members sign up to, and abide by, a Code of Professional Conduct.

Who are the Executive, ordinary and co-opted members?

The Chair of the AAPT is James Lowell, Professor Sebastian Lucas is President, Mrs Ishbel Gall FAAPT is Vice-Chair and the Treasurer duties are performed by David Scott FAAPT.

Ordinary Council members Lydia Judge-Kronis and Marisa Van Cauwenbergh are up for re-election at the AGM 2012.

David Shepherd and Alison Anderson are elected ordinary Council members, John Pitchers is the lead for South & South West and Terry Johnson is co-opted as the Education & Training Chair.

Who can stand for Council?

The individual will need to be a Fellow or Member and be nominated by another member of the AAPT. You will require diplomacy and the ability to fully understand AAPT policy and discuss confidential issues with a broad outlook of the profession.

All nominations standing for Council election or re-election must be registered by the AGM with the Voluntary Registration Council (VRC) to support the policy of wanting the profession to be regulated.

Time commitments

As a Council member you will need to attend a minimum of 2 meetings per annum and you will likely be expected to join one of the sub-committees or working groups in areas such as education, conference planning and forensics. There is no payment for work undertaken as a member of Council although reasonable expenses are reimbursed.

Council member's perspectives:

John Pitchers FAAPT, Regional Lead for South & the South West

"Being involved with Council as a Regional Lead has provided me with a vital link between the national perspective and the APTs on the ground in the South & South-West.

Establishing a comprehensive network in such a geographically diverse area will always be a challenge, but some real progress has been made in opening up the lines of communication both ways, meaning that I can provide local APTs with clear and accurate information, whilst being able to deliver their feedback to Council on the issues that are important to them.

The end result is that a greater number of APTs in the S&SW now have access to information, have a voice, and are hopefully less likely to feel cut-off from the profession as a whole."

David Scott FAAPT, Raigmore Hospital, Inverness, AAPT Treasurer

"When I initially became a member of the association the immediate benefit to me was the feeling of no longer being isolated in a unique profession more than 100 miles from my nearest professional colleague who I didn’t know.

As now, there was then a call for new council members and being excited by this new organisation and the support and camaraderie I had already experienced through my first conference I felt I wanted to become more involved even though I felt I didn’t have the knowledge skills or experience of some of my more illustrious colleagues.

However once I had been elected and got over the trepidation of attending my first council meeting (at which I found myself neatly manoeuvred into the treasurers’ role) I found that I did have a voice which was listened to and my opinions were just as valid as those more senior APTs. In fact council was a surprisingly level playing field in this respect and not something to fear.

As a direct result of my involvement in the Association and more specifically my participation as a council member my knowledge, confidence and ability to perform my day to day role has been greatly enhanced as well as now having a support network nationally that I know I can fall back on for advice or even just someone to talk to that understands the pressures and stresses our work involves.

The knowing that I have played a part in helping to drive our profession forward and hopefully provide those just coming into the profession with a platform to build on and be recognised as a serious health care scientist has given me a great deal of satisfaction and I would encourage every member to consider a spell as a member of council as the professional returns are well worth the work involved"

A postal vote will be required if there are more than 6 nominations. All nominations will require approval at the AGM.

The nomination form is downloadable and should be received by the Association Secretariat no later than Friday 29th June 2012.

If you would like an informal chat with regard to the role, please contact the Secretary Christian Burt on 0207 278 2151, Vice-Chair Ishbel Gall on 01224 553704 or email mail@aaptuk.org.